Bending-machine.



F. T. ROOT.

BBNDING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNEG. 1912.

Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

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NVENTOR F r-cl n l T. Rooi- WIT/VESSES ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH Co..\vAsH1Na-roN, D. c.

F-VT. ROOT. BENDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 6, 1912.

coLuMnlA PLANGGRAPH co.,\v^shlNaTON. D. c.

.R 'I'. ROOT.

BENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6, 1912.

Patented oct. 22, 191.2.A

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W/TNESSES /NVENTH Frank T. R001' Y f A 8 W yf ATTORNEYS coLulnulA vLANoGR/wu co\\'AsH|NGToN, D. c.

F. T. ROOT.

BBNDING MAGHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6, 1912.

Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

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`T Mo o NR w. WT k WIT/VESSES ATTORNEYS cuLUlnum PLANoGuM-n cn.. WASHINGTON. l). c.

TINTTFD STATES FATICNT- CFFTCF.

FRANK T. ROOT, or YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGNoR To DRFIANCR MACHINE WORKS, or DRFIANOR, OHIO, A CORPORATION or OHIO.

BRNDING-MACHINR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

Application iiled June 6`- 1912. Serial No. 702,027.

Toall whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK T. Roo'r, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of York, in the county of York and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Bending-Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to wood-bending machines, such, for instance, as shown and described in the Letters Patent of the United States, No. 603,926, granted to Charles Seymour, May 10, 1898.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved bending machine arranged to automatically impart a gradual traveling motion to the head blocks during the bending operation to compensate for the increase in length of the timber incident to the bending thereof, thus allowing the timber to hug the form very snugly and thereby insuring the formation of accurately bent timber.

For the purpose mentioned use is made of a shifting means for gradually shifting the head blocks outwardly on the bending arms during the upward swinging movement of the bending arms, the means being controlled by the latter.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a front elevation of the bending machine; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional front elevation of part of the same; Fig. 3 is an inverted sectional plan view of the same on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sectional front elevation of the same showing the bending arms in bending position; Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross section of the bending machine on the line 55 of Fig. l, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the eccentric rods for shift-ing the head blocks.

The frame on which the bending machine is mounted consists of a base A and standards A erected on the said base, and on the standards A is mounted a form B around which the timber C is bent by the use of bending arms D, D, and a master strap E overlying the said bending arms D, the latter also carrying head blocks F against which abut the ends of the timber C placed i on top of the master strap E, as indicated in Figs. l and 2.

The outer ends of the bending arms D are connected with ropes, cables or chains G which extend upwardly and inwardly and pass over pulleys I-I journaled in the upper ends of the standards A, and the said chains Gr then wind on a drum I journaled on the standards A and driven by a suitable mechanism, not shown. When the drum I is rotated and the chains G are wound up thereon then an upward swinging motion is given to the bending arms D to bend the timber C around the form B, as indicated in Fig. 4.

The outer ends of the bending arms D are supported by rods J and springs J from yieldingly sustained trucks in the manner more fully shown and described in the application for Letters Patent of the United Stat-es, No. 702,127 filed under even date herewith by George A. Ensign and B. T. Root, so that further description of these de vices is not deemed necessary.

The pair of head blocks F at each end of the timber C are mounted to slide on the master strap E and a corresponding bending arm D, and each is adjustably secured by a set screw F to an eccentric rod L extending longitudinally on the front or rear of the arm D and each eccentric rod L is provided at its under side with spaced notches L for engagement by the set screw F. The eccentric straps L2 of the eccentric rods L for a pair of head blocks F engage eccentrics L3 secured on a transversely-extending shaft L4 journaled in the corresponding bending arm D, as plainly indicated in the drawings, and the outer ends of the said shaft L4 are also journaled vin bearings N attached to the front and rear of the corresponding bending arm D.

Cn the front end of each shaft L4 is secured a handle L5 under the control of the operator turning the shaft Lt so as to draw the pair of head blocks F into final position against the corresponding end of the timber C, it being understood that the head blocks F are first adjusted near the end of the timber C by loosening the set screws F" and sliding the head blocks along on the eccentric rods L. During the time the bending arms D are swung upward to bend the timber C around the form B the eccentric shaft L4 and consequently the eccentrics L3 are held against rotation so that the eccentric straps L2 carried along by the bending arms D travel around the fixed eccentrics L3 whereby a gradual upward sliding movement is given to the eccentric rods L and the head blocks F to move the latter gradually outward into bending operation thus compensat-ing for the increase in the length of the timber C incident to the bending of the timber.

In order to hold each eccentric shaft L4 and its eccentrics L3 against turning during the upward swinging of the corresponding bending arm D, the following arrangement is made: A clutch member O is mounted to turn with and to slide on the rear end of the eccentric shaft L4, and the said clutch member O is adapted to engage a non-rotatable clutch member O held on the shaft L4 and provided with a slide O2 (see Figs. 3 and 5) engaging a vertical guideway or guide rod P provided with a slide P mounted to slide on a horizontally-disposed guideway or guide rod Q attached to the standards A. Now when each of the arms D swings upward for bending the timber C around the form B the shaft L4 moves with the corresponding arm D but is held against rotation by the clutch member O engaging the clutch member O keyed on the shaft Lt, it being understood that as the clutch member O is carried along by the shaft L* its slide 02 slides upo-n the guideway P and the latter slides longitudinally on the guideway Q so that the clutch member O readily follows the swinging movement of the arm D but is heldy against rotation and holds the shaft L4 and the eccentrics L3 against rotation. When it is desired to adjust the head blocks F to final position. on swinging the handle L5 into an approximately horizontal position, as previously explained, it is necessary to allow the shaft L4 to turn, and for this purpose the clutch member O must be moved out of engagement with the clutch member O. The clutch member O is engaged by a shifting lever R (see Figs. 3 and 5) pivoted on a bracket R attached to the under side of the corresponding bending arm D, and the said shifting lever R is pivotally connected with a transversely-extending bar R2 mounted to slide in bearings Rg secured to the under side of the corresponding arm D. A spring RIr is coiled on the rod R2 of the shifting lever R and engages the rear bearing R3 so as to normally hold the clutch member in engagement with the clutch member O. The forward end of the bar R2 is provided with an eccentric lever R5 abutting against the front bearing R3 and adapted to be moved from a longitudinal into a transverse position (see Fig. 3), to impart a transverse sliding movement to the bar R2 with a view to swing the shifting lever R inwardly and thereby move the clutch member O out of mesh with the clutch member O. When the clutch member O is in this uncoupled position the shaft L4 can bepturned by the operator manipulating the handle L5 fo-r moving the head blocks F firmly into engagement with the ends of the timber C. Vhen this has been done the operator swings the eccentric lever R5 back into longitudinal position to allow the spring R4B to swing the shifting lever R outward with a view to move the clutch member O into mesh with the non-rotatable clutch member O.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by the arrangement described the head blocks F can be moved by the operator into firm contact with the ends of the timber C and the head blocks F move gradually outwardly during the bending operation of the timber and according to the gradual increase in the length of the timber incident to the bending thereof, and consequently the timber C is not liable to buckle up but hugs the form B very firmly thus insuring the format-ion of accurately bent timber.

Having thus described my invention, l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. A bending machine, comprising a form, bending arms for bending the timber around the form, head blocks movable on the said bending arms and adapted to engage the ends of the timber, eccentrics mounted on the said bending arms, eccentric straps ccnnected with the said head blocks and carried around the eccentrics on movement of the said bending arms, and means connected with the eccentrics for holding the same against turning during the bending movement of the said bending arms.

5. A bending machine, comprisinga form, bending arms for bending the timber around the form, head blocks movable on the said bending arms and adapted to engage the ends of the timber, shafts journaled in the said bending arms and provided with eccentrics, eccentric rods connected at t-he outer ends with the said head blocks and provided attheir inner ends with eccentric straps carried around said eccentrics on movement of the said bending arms, and means connected with the said shafts to hold the latter and the eccentrics thereon against turning during the bending movement of the said bending arms.

3. A bending machine, comprising a form, bending arms for bending the timber around the form, head blocks movable on the said bending arms and adapted to engage the ends of t-he timber, shafts journaled in the said bending arms and provided with eccentrics, eccentric rods connected at the outer ends with the said head blocks and provided at their inner ends with eccentric straps carried around the said eccentrics on movement lLOO of the saidy bending arms, clutch members turning with the said shafts, non-turnable clutch members adapted to engage the said shaft clutch members, and means carrying the said non-turnable clutch members and mounted to travel in unison with the said bending arms.

4. A bending` machine, comprising a form, bending arms for bending the timber around the form, head blocks movable on the said bending arms and adapted to engage the ends of the timber, shafts journaled in the said bending arms and provided with eccentrics, eccentric rods connected at the outer ends with the said head blocks and provided at their inner ends with eccentric straps carried around the said eccentrics on movement of the said bending arms, clu-tch members turning with the said shafts, non-turnable clutch members adapted to engage the said shaft clutch members, vertical guide rods on which the said non-turnable clutch members are mounted to slide up and down, and fixed horizontal guideways on which the said Vertical guide rods are mounted to slide forward and backward.

5. A bending machine, comprising a form, bending arms for bending the timber around the form, head blocks movable on the said bending arms and adapted to engage the ends of the timber, shafts journaled in the said bending arms and provided with eccentrics, eccentric rods connected at the outer ends with the said head blocks and provided at their inner ends with eccentric straps carried around the said eccentrics on movement of the said bending arms, clutch members turning with the said shafts, non-turnable clutch members adapted to engage the said shaft clutch members, vertical guide rods on which the non-turnable clutch members are mounted to slide up and down, Xed

horizontal guideways on which the said vertical guide rods are mounted to slide forward and backward, clutch-shifting devices connected with the said shaft clutch members to move the latter out of engagement with the said non-turnable clutch members, and handles on the said shafts to turn the latter by hand at a time the clutch members are out of engagement with each other.

6. A bending machine, comprising a form, bending arms for bending the timber around the form, head blocks movable on the said bending arms and adapted to engage the ends of the timber, shafts journaled in the said bending arms and provided with eccentrics, eccentric rods connected at the outer ends with the said head blocks and provided at their inner ends with eccentric straps carried around the said eccentrics on movement of the said bending arms, slides connected with the said shafts, a vertical guideway for the said slides to travel on, and a horizontal guideway for the said vertical guideway to travel on.

7. A bending machine provided with bending arms mounted to swing, head blocks movable on the said bending arms, shafts journaled in the said bending arms and provided with handles for turning the said shafts, eccentrics secured on the said shafts, eccentric rods provided at their inner ends with eccentric straps engaging the said eccentrics, and an adjustable connection between the said head blocks and the outer ends of the said eccentric rods.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK T. ROOT.

Witnesses:

GEORGE A. ENsIGN, H. T. GERBER.

Copies of th'i's patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

